Grateful Dead

With all of this free time on hand, I’m going to do something others have done. Europe 72 on the anniversary dates. Someone else mentioned that it took them 2 1/2 years to get through the first listen. It took me a year and a half. Now I have time.

Hard to believe that it’s coming up on 25 years since Garcia passed. I’m a bit surprised that not more has been made of it. A special release perhaps?

71 is the deal. Doc was on top of this long ago. Flat out rock and roll. A Capitol release would be very welcome.

As for the person who asked why many of us shun the later years.

Easy Answers
Eternity
Samba in the Rain

And many, many others. Not banging. Just providing clarity.

A little bit too much Vince Gilligan in tonight’s episode of BCS.

as saying, with all due respects to everyone and all, I'd go for a 30-disc box of spring '71 in a heartbeat, even if it destroyed the business model and it was the last thing I every heard.

Love, HF

Great version of Easy Wind! It would be nice if this whole video of Calibration could be cleaned up and released. The Dead at their best.

Charlie3, the ones that come to mind - my fav from the Closing of Winterland bonus disc. I don't even want to tell you what I traded to get this CD into my collection back in my completist days, when my credit card had no balance :D

Anyway that has one from I think New Year's Eve 1970 into '71. Or was it 71 in the 72... I get the years confused on that disc because they're all New Year's shows. Dave's Picks Thelma, DP 16, Fillmore East Road Trips 3.3 all have Easy Wind. Hmmm could that be it?

I wonder why they didn't play this one more. I would have traded it for a couple of the shorter tracks he did on the Europe 72 tour. Next time you see me & Hurts Me Too.

Hi Doc, good to hear you weigh in on 1971 - any discussion on that subject matter without your input seems kind of in vain. Vein. Veign. Vaughn. Stevie Ray Vaughn. WHO IS Stevie Ray Vaughn. That's my final answer.

I would be less interested in Port Chester and Fillmore East Spring 71 if they had not been recorded on multitrack. It's that tease for pristine sound that really elevates them on my list. If I think about it, the 30 Trips show from 3/18/71 is IMHO the best sounding two track from 1971 pre-Keith (of the official releases). Come to think of it, I wonder if any 1971 Pre-Keith shows came back with that acquisition of tapes from the lost storage locker. Hmmmm. Chin scratcher.

Yo, rockers!!!!

I must admit that I'm both amused and amazed at all the 1971 chatter flying back and forth. Seems like old times....

First and foremost, my prediction----there will never be a single complete April 1971 box set. It's not because it isn't good, great, classic, and occasionally sublime. It is, and so much more. But for most, it's too big and unwieldy. People bought 30 Trips because there was variety. The E72 box had all that amazing jamming. Selling a box with 20 shows that on first glance (and I emphasize, "first glance") are very similar is a much tougher nut to crack.

Generally, the "detractions" about this period fall into two camps:
1) "The repertoire". Yes, there is a lot of repetition. Some new stuff, Bobby cowboy tunes, Pigpen's grease---but hey, if you don't care for that, then April 1971 is definitely NOT the month for you. And as some have pointed out, "big jams" are generally lacking. That can't be denied. The big jams vehicles that month were The Other One and Good Lovin'. Hey, works for me, but not for everybody.
2) "The style". Since I'm a rocker, I'm drawn to the style of this era and revel in it. Pared down, lean, mean, Bakersfield blasts of hard edged rock and roll. Not all of it is sledgehammer material, but some is, which means it's very powerful. But others like their Dead smoother, creamier, jammier. I get that.

Then there's the issue of the Fillmore shows. Since portions were released already, that makes their inclusion in a big box a little redundant. And there's all those guests, and the legalities, and the hassles, and the lawyers. But I'd love to see 4/25 as a solo release----that Hard To Handle is as crunchy as a Jake Lamotta right hook.

Make no mistake----while every April 71 show has something to recommend it, not every show that month was a gem. I won't name names, folks know who I mean. Personally, I think an April 71 mega box would sell poorly, which is something that TPTB dwell on over fine cigars and cognac. But I think a pared down box, excluding the Fillmores, would sell very well. Maybe 5 or 6 shows, my preferences would be 4/6, 8, 12, 14, 18, 21.

Actually, I'd much prefer a Port Chester or Fall "FM shows" box (IF it include 11/7, 10/29, and 12/5!)

Guess that's all for now, time to go read some cosmology and strum the guitar....

Rock on,

Doc
P.S. Anybody who needs/wants any 71s, Aprils or otherwise, you know where to find me...……….

All of this talk of '71 made me think of the awesome 2/19/71 Port Chester show released as 3FTV. That show has one of the best versions of GSET ever, a version that like some others from '71 has that great loping feel to it. I also realized that 3FTV has a great Easy Wind, another song I dig and a premium Pig vehicle. Which made me wonder, which other, if any, official releases have an Easy Wind? Haven't had a chance to look thoroughly, but can't think of any others off the top of my head. Nice summary on some of the appeal of '71 Keithfan2112, not really much else to add beyond what you already pointed out.

Last 5 - more 1967
Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
Grateful Dead - 11/10/67 from 30 Trips. Yeah, I have underestimated this show, it smokes. Can I amend my top shows from the 30 Trips box answer?
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Doors - The Doors
Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come

Edit: DP 16, DaP 10, and DaP 30 all have Easy Wind.

Oh yes, so would I !

You're probably right. It's probably one of those deals like Winterland October 74. Once you actually list out what didn't make the movie soundtrack, you're not missing that much. But I would take any of these over a nineties box set for example.

Its a great release, no question, but I am not sure I would prioritise a release of the whole run as a box set. Those 2 second set jams mentioned from 4/28 and 4/29 are incredible, though. Its years since I listened to tapes of the whole shows from those two dates, but I seem to remember the first two sets were quite similar, in feel if not actual song selection.
I feel the same way about Portchester February 71-very popular on here, and frequently suggested as the source for a future box - but it wouldn't be my choice.

What I like about it:

* From Feb - April '71 they introduced one metric fuckton of new songs. And if they didn't introduce them, they began peaking on stuff from Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. If I look at the track list for Ladies and Gentlemen and Three From the Vault, I would guess 65 to 75% of the songs are not on official release prior to these. And prior to that, Skull & Roses came out as an official release in that actual era, so people were getting some of these tracks for the first time. I can't find a better released Morning Dew prior to the one on Ladies & Gentlemen for example, or Midnight Hour to name a couple. I guess add King Bee. New Minglewood Blues. Only Ripple. Second That Emotion. Dark Hollow.

Truckin' and Bertha tightened up by Autumn '71, and Bird Song went into hyperspace after they gave it a rest between the summer of 71 and the summer of 72. Those are really the only songs I can think of that may have gotten a little bit better on a more consistent basis. I'm not saying there aren't any great Truckin's in Spring of 71, just saying it got even better later. China Cat IMHO gained an immediate infusion of energy; the two drummer versions that came prior always seemed a bit crowded to me.

* One drummer. I think they really began to swing a bit more wiith just Billy back there. Take a listen to St. Stephen from Ladies and Gentlemen - the last-minute is pure rock and roll. Hard to Handle peaked big time and continued into the summer with those great August versions, where one drummer allowed for some intense improvisational instrumental solo sections - I'm talking about the little 2 to 3 minute jams within some of the shorter songs, when they chose to rock out. Greatest Story Ever Told is another. It rocked out extra hard and Spring 71, prior to Jerry picking up the Wah wah on it.

* Agree, they definitely took a step back in the duration of a lot of the Dark Stars and they played it frighteningly few times compared to 72 and 73 and 69 and 70 before it. But that being said, the times they did play it were some of the best 12 to 15 minutes of Dark Star you'll hear with acouple of 20s. No cacophony, no meltdowns, no atonal space drift. Just pure Dark Star melodies and Garcia noodling. February 18th was awesome, all 3 in April were awesome. You will find beautiful Jam on Feb 18th, which is one of a kind, as well as the Jam on Ladies and Gentlemen which may as well be in the middle of a Dark Star.

* Pigpen peaked on the organ. It's funny you mention it actually. House listing in the Cold Rain and Snow from Ladies and Gentlemen this morning, thinking how accomplished Pigpen had become by then. By then he was still playing sparsely, which is good because it didn't overwhelm the soundscape, but he also wasn't limiting himself to chords and basic melodies; he was actually improvising a bit in between. You can really hear him on the 30 Trips show from March.

* Sound quality - the Port Chester and Fillmore East runs are all multi-track sourced.